ST The nuances / ingredients that make a Star Wars film

As much as I don't like JJ as a filmmaker, we have to recognise that he's obviously got the right to influence the style of the film. I think he'll obviously be a little more restrained, but ultimately it's his eye that's looking through the lens.

 

My hope would be that JJ influences the style of Episode VII about as much as Irvin Kershner influenced the style of TESB... which is definitely different than Lucas's style, but still fits firmly into the established style of Star Wars. Beyond that, I honestly hope he's payed close attention to the way the shots in the saga are composed and the meaning behind those compositions because it's all very specific and deliberate. There is some room for stylistic interpretation, but the visual continuity should remain consistent throughout the saga.

 

Now this I am on board with.

 

Thor 2 just opened with a newly designed Marvel Studios logo, so maybe the ST will open with a retro Lucasfilm logo?

 

Maybe the crawl could go backwards, and have green letters.

 

Retro as in the Helvetica like plain green letters from the old Lucasfilm logo? That always baffled me, Lucas being this visual pioneer in movies had the dullest logo ever for his film company.

 

Nah I was thinking cheesy 80's music would be blaring.

 

I'm thinkin' it'll look like the 90s/2000 Lucasfilm logo, pretty much bang on. Maybe ala the Marvel logo, they'll be a transition from the classic 70s/80s logo to a somewhat spiffier version of the more recent one.

Since Thor: Dark World didn't have a Disney logo at the front I think we can safely guess they'll be no Disney Castle infront of Ep. 7. Although I'm still banking on Bad Robot. Probably before Lucasfilm. After Lucasfilm would look weird.

 

Same goes for the "let's go see all the Avengers fighting in different parts of the city all in one continuous shot" kind of shots. Trick shots are not unheard of in Star Wars, of course, but that kind of obvious "notice this shot" grandstanding is just too cheesy for the Saga.

 

The be fair, though, the opening shot of ROTS
was very "notice this shot". Of course, I think the sense of "two brothers taking on the universe" was captured beautifully in that shot, so there's that.

 

Spielberg has had some great, long, slow shots/takes. It's not really a Lucas thing but I always enjoy it when it's well done.

 

I love the single-take shot that opens up "Sith", I'd be down with a few more of those. The two long-takes in Avengers sort come kind of ontop of each other so that's why it's so noticeable (I personally dig the "spin around" one more than the "fighting through the city" one). But I would really enjoy a single-take shot inside a Star Wars environment. Think when they walk into the club in "Goodfellas" but instead there's, like, wookies and stormtroopers and stuff! It would be outside of the realm of Star Wars movies, true, but just cuz it hasn't been done before doesn't mean it shouldn't. Just, y'know, use it once or maybe twice (separated by a solid 30 minutes of movie)

I always compare single-take shots to guitar-solos. You do 30 minutes of straight guitar solos, it becomes noise. Throw in a kickass guitar-solo in the middle of a song, and then you take notice. (aside, that one thing that bugged me about Alfono Cauron's "Children of Men" wherein it was basically 2 dozen shots the whole movie or something. He found a nice balance in those with "Prisoner of Azkaban" and more recently "Gravity". Lots of single-take shots in "Gravity" but not all at once ontop of each other like "Children" was.)

 

Being an old man, I'm not a fan of the new Star Treks. Now granted I'm biased because I like the OLD Star Treks better, story, cinematography, actors etc. If J.J. made the exact same films and called it "Space Trek Wars" and it didn't reference Star Trek at all I would have been fine. I like how the original Star Trek, OT & PT have a standard filming technique. I think these "long continuous fly over shots" are just trendy and shouldn't be in a saga such as Star Wars that will span over 4 decades. Keeping the films some what congruent will make sure they last forever.

 

I am in agreement, both in the difference between old and new Star Trek and the difference between how a Star Trek movie is shot and a Star Wars movie. My beef is mainly with ST: Into Darkness, though. It broke too many rules (both Star Trek-wise and physics-wise) for me to truly, fully enjoy it.

As for Star Wars, a few specialty shots never hurt; the long effects shot at the very beginning of the series (though the camera was in place) is iconic.

We all really know what makes a Star Wars movie, though. Repetitions of old quotes! "I have a bad feeling about this" had better be in the movie.

 

Yeah, Star Wars has never been known for that. I mean you'd never have seen Lucas back when he made the original Star Wars, dreaming up a shot where the camera panned down over a planet and then a big ship flew overhead and an even bigger ship flew after it, taking up the entire screen and making the whole audience feel like the ship was actually flying over their heads…..wait….

In general, Star Wars is classically shot. Tripods, cranes, dollies. Action beats are there to be seen and not cut to shreds to create a false intensity. Quick pacing is a must of course but none of this quick cutting, up-close shaky cam crap. If something flies past the camera, you don't cut, you pan and follow. There are a lot of "wow" shots in Star Wars, and plenty of shots that are hallmarks of the old serials Lucas was inspired by such as wide establishing shots.

Lucas' "faster, more intense" mantra comes straight from those serials and other movies of the thirties and forties, where actors would fly through dialogue. There's a rhythm at play that builds from a slower point but speeds up as characters get knee-deep in conversation. The cantina scene is a great example of this. When Han sits down, it starts off at a moderate pace as Han boasts about his ship but when those boasts are called into question it picks up and as soon as the characters get to the meat of why they're sitting there in the first place it's full steam ahead. Very reminiscent of films like The Maltese Falcon.

"Faster, more intense" is at the heart of Star Wars acting and must be maintained.

 

this might make me sad but I will feel sad if the end credits are not in blue...

 

George Lucas's chops behind the camera are nothing special and it's no secret. He's a creative force and boy does he know how to run a succesful business. Technically and emotionally Star Wars doesn't do anything too special in the way it's shot and it doesn't really need to, give credit for that to good ole Johnny Williams and the actors involved. The way the prequels were shot is flat out soap opera style. "I have 'A' camera and 'B' camera" Lucas said about the way he films performances, and boy does it show.

Still, this is not much of a flaw, it's not like Star Wars (or any other movie) needs complex CGI driven shots. A lot of people absolutely love ROTS opening shot and that's fine. It's not something that was necessary at all and it can come off as CGI overload.

That said, JJ Abrams is a guy that, unlike Lucas, uses the camera to convey emotion and action. Episode VII may feel very different because of this.

I'm all for it.

 

And the Wilhelm scream! Must. Have. The Wilhelm scream!

 

Speaking of the Wilhelm scream, I'm hoping Ben Burtt will be involved in EP7, however I believe he vowed never to use it again.

 

Burtt's involvement has been officially confirmed.

 

...I'm pretty sure he can make an exception for SW

 

So, all Star Wars movies have their credits at the end, an almost unique phenomenon in films, to allow a dramatic opening.

The guilds allowed this for ANH, but went completely mental with Lucas and Kershner when they did it for ESB. As I understand it, Lucas was then free to do as he pleased for ROTJ, TPM, AOTC and ROTS because he quit the guilds.

Now we come to EP VII. JJ is a fully paid up member of the guilds. Will he and/or Disney risk the wrath of the guilds to preserve the classical Star War opening sequence?

The Fox music I can live without, but I won't be best pleased if we get any opening credits flashing across the screen.

Just a thought.


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I think that issue was resolved. I've seen other, newer movies that didn't have credits up front.

 

That's right.

Episode VII will follow exactly how the previous six were done.

A long time ago opening
Main title and Crawl
Closing credits in blue - star field.